


New (and same as before)

by jayyxx



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Family Feels, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 16:52:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16998861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jayyxx/pseuds/jayyxx
Summary: But when he opened the door, he saw Arthur, who smiled softly, and passed over a box. It was wrapped in green paper with a geometric print, with a bow and everything.Dom held it. “For me?”Arthur snorted. “No, idiot.”





	New (and same as before)

**Author's Note:**

> uhhhhhhhh

It took a while for him to settle back in. It kind of felt like going away to college, but in reverse. He went from a hectic lifestyle of working half his hours and stressing over work the other half, to being at home with his family, no stress in the world. 

Miles and Marie left. It was time. They too would have to settle back into their life. The life before Dom tainted it. 

Phillipa was doing incredible in school. Her teacher wrote lovely little notes in her daily agenda beside the messy scrawl of Phillips’s own writing, like how she’d listened very well in class, played well with her classmates, and how she had to wear old clothes on Tuesday, since they would be painting. She always came home with stories, waving her hands excitedly as she told them. James and Dom would listen very closely, as if there was a quiz on it later. Sometimes she’d forget what happened in this story, and make up something to fill it. Dom would laugh lightly as James’ eyes widened at his sister's talk of “40-foot playground slides” and “swinging all the way around the top of the swing set.” 

James was learning also. He had books and toys and puzzles and games. All things Marie had bought for him to prepare him for schooling. He would colour and write and paint. He would dance and run and perform downward facing dog, or warrior pose, or cat and cow: all yoga poses grandma had taught him while she practiced every morning. 

Every morning they had breakfast together, then Phillipa would catch the bus. James would stay home with Dom. 

Every afternoon, Dom and James would make the car ride down to pick up Phillipa. They’d prepare lunch, and pick something to do that day. Maybe go for a walk, or watch a movie. Dom has been thinking of getting a dog. He’s always wanted a dog. 

Everyday was pretty much the same. It was such a lovely change from what he was used to. 

Until the day he received a knock. 

He had just stepped foot through the garage door, and had set James down, who ran like a mad man at being set free from the confinements of a car seat. Phillipa had a story about turning cucumbers into pickles and how it was “just basic science,” and Dom had barely breathed in the smell of his home before the knock rung through. 

“Who’s that, daddy?” Phillipa asked. 

Dom shrugged. “Should I go check?” 

She nodded. 

“You stay with J, okay?” 

Another nod, and she ran off to see where he’d finally crashed after his escape from the car. 

He had assumed it was someone attempting to turn them onto their religion. Maybe if he was lucky it’d be someone selling sweets. 

But when he opened the door, he saw Arthur, who smiled softly, and passed over a box. It was wrapped in green paper with a geometric print, with a bow and everything. 

Dom held it. “For me?”

Arthur snorted. “No, idiot.” He piled a second box on top, having slid it out of his backpack. This one had dinosaurs on the paper. 

He pushed through the doorway and set his bags down, rolled his shoulders and sighed. Then, he dug into his pocket and pulled out a small bag of candy. 

“This one's for you.” He said softly and pressed the bag into Dom’s hand, who fumbled briefly with all the gifts.

What was going on...?

“Arthur, are you alright?” 

He was toeing off his shoes and looking at the hanging picture frames. “Sure.” He replied with a gentle smile, shrugging a shoulder. 

Dom stared at his back. He can’t remember the last time he felt so many emotions this close to happy all at once. He also can’t remember the last time Arthur was in his home, but he believes, with a sinking feeling, it was the day...

“Hey, Philly. Do you remember...” Arthur began, shaking Dom from his thoughts to see his little girl standing at the end of the main hall. She suddenly breaks into a sprint, her arms wide as she screams “Uncle Arthur!” and jumps into his arms. 

He drops to his knees to hug her, wrapping his long arms around her tiny frame as she squeezes his neck far too tightly. She’s giggling like a maniac. 

“Wait... Daddy, does this mean you’re having another baby?” 

Ah. Yes. The last time Arthur was here was when Mal and Dom were in the hospital with James. James was early, and neither pair of grandparents had booked the flight to come meet him until much closer to his due date. They needed a sitter for Phillipa, just three at the time. 

“No, sweetheart. No baby.” Dom replies, still dazed. He can still picture Arthur’s face as Mal sat beside him on the living room couch, lowering baby James into his curled arms. Watching him pet a gentle finger down the newborn's face, remembers holding Phillipa on his lap in the recliner as they waited their turn. 

_(“Wow.” Arthur had said. “I can’t believe how small he is.”)_

“Philly, is that your brother?” Present day Arthur asks with his face still pressed into soft blonde hair, eyes on the hallway where James was peaking around the corner. 

Phillipa pulls away quickly and turns. “Yes! Jamesy, c’mere!” 

Arthur sighs, sitting back on his heels as James runs to his sister, slightly shy of the newcomer. “Wow. I can’t believe how big you are.” 

Dom sets the gifts down, and bypasses them as he heads for a glass of water. He spins his top on the table, and can feel himself tear up as it topples over, like it does every day. 

-

Arthur got Phillipa a gardening set. With gloves and a shovel and all. She’s ecstatic. James got a puzzle with sea animals on it, including his favourite, the “big bwue whale.” He opens it in the hallway and is determined to get started as soon as possible. 

Arthur takes his stuff upstairs to his room _— of course he has a room —_ while Dom spins his top over and over and over. 

“Why are you sad, Daddy?” Phillipa surprises him and sends him snatching at his top, pocketing it. 

He shakes his head and takes a knee. “I’m not. I’m very happy.”

She looks down at her new shovel with a green handle. Green’s her favourite colour. Of course Arthur would remember that. “Are you still scared Uncle is mad at you?”

He told her, he thinks, that Uncle Arthur didn’t come by anymore because he was mad at him. And that Daddy was “too scared” to invite him, in case he really was mad. 

“No, baby. It’s just...” He rubs his brow. “Sometimes it’s hard to be an adult.”

Phillipa smiles. “I know Daddy. That’s why I’m just a kid.” 

That makes Dom laugh. “Yeah. Exactly.”

“Do you want to play outside with me?”

Dom nods. “I do. I just want to talk to Arthur for a bit first. Okay? You go. Bring James with you.” 

And so Phillipa promptly drags James away from his puzzle to go dig for worms in the dirt pit she calls her garden. Soon he will help her plant something, and they will grow it together. 

Dom goes upstairs to the room next to his own. He stands in the doorway and tries to look casual. He fails. 

Arthur, who is sitting very casually on the bed, the bastard, smiles at him in a way that settles all of Dom’s anxieties. 

He tips his head. “I’m sorry I spooked you.” 

Dom laughs. “It was a good kind of spook.” 

Arthur pats the spot next to him, and Dom nearly trips over his own feet in attempt to get there faster. Somehow, he makes it look casual. Because that’s what they’re going for, apparently. 

He sits close so that their knees brush, but not to close to have their thighs touch. Dom stares straight ahead, and Arthur looks at him. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t call first. You used to like surprises.” He mumbles. 

“No.” Dom shuts him down. “I’m... I’m so glad you’re here.” 

Mal was always telling him about eye contact. How important it was. He tries it, and feels his chest burn as he meets Arthur’s eyes for the first time in months. It burns so bad he can’t help the “I missed you,” that tumble through his clenched teeth. 

Arthur smiled. “I know. And I should have some sooner, ‘cuz I know you need me and...”

“No, no I should have called, I should have invited you... You should have been here this whole time, not alone, not...”

“I wasn’t alone, but you were...”

“And the kids keep asking about her and maybe if you were here...”

“I know and I should have been.”

At once, they both stop talking. It occurs to Dom they’ve just talked over each other until they were both blabbering. 

Dom meets his eyes again, and feels the honestly rather than hears it when Arthur says again, “I should have been here.” 

Dom leans forward and presses his face into his hand. 

Arthur waits a moment. Let’s him recover, but when he doesn’t, and he says with his face in his hand, he grabs at Dom’s wrist and pulls it away. Dom moves to press his face into Arthur’s neck and breathe him in. Arthur palms the side of his head and holds him around the shoulders. 

“I should have called.” Dom mumbles sadly, “I’m supposed to ask. I know I’m supposed to ask.” 

Arthur knows that means “ask for help,” something Dom is overly bad at. They’ve had these talks before; where Arthur screams at him about how Dom’s going to get one of them killed if he doesn’t get this under control. How he’s going to hurt himself. And how he needs to ask when he needs something. 

It’s not going well, as he can tell, but it’s something they can work on. 

“Yes, but...” Arthur starts, adjusting his hold on him. “I shouldn’t have forced you to ask. I should have... I should have helped more.” 

He means with Mal. Even though she no longer haunts Dom’s mind like a ghost, her presence is still felt around this house, and Arthur should have been here to help. He can always tell when to help, even if Dom doesn’t ask. 

From the hallway, they hear the kids climbing the steps. Hears Phillipa whisper, “No, James!” as the two-year-old slips from her grasp and comes crashing into the room. Dom laughs against Arthur’s collar and untangles them. 

“Hey bud.”

“Daddy.” He says, like they’re in a business meeting. “Why sad?” 

“Not sad, baby.” He says, scooping his boy up. “Happy.” 

“You can come in, Philly,” Arthur says, and Dom turns his head just in time to watch her disappear from where he was peaking behind the doorway. 

“Phillipa.” Dom tests, and she reappears and steps into the room with her hands behind her back. 

“We weren’t listening.” She swears. 

“It’s okay,” Arthur says, and beckons her over. James sits curled in his Dad’s lap, and Phillipa slides into the small space between the headboard and Uncle Arthur. 

“Are you going to stay for a bit?” She asks him. 

“Yes.” Dom answers for him. Arthur smiles at that. 

Phillipa’s face breaks into a grin. “Oh good. So you can help with the garden!” 

“Of course I can.” Arthur turns to James. “And we can build all the puzzles you’ve got, big guy.” 

James' thumb pops out of his mouth. “R’Ly?”

“Yup.” Replies Arthur, popping the P. 

“And you can help with breakfast!” Phillipa adds. 

“Hey,” Dom interjects. “What’s wrong with my breakfast?”

“Nothing!” Phillipa snaps. She jumps off the bed and pulls James down with her. “We have to go now! Bye!” 

Arthur chuckles and rests his head on Dom’s shoulder. And with that, Dom’s every day was changed for the better.

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for kudosing and commenting on this mess. lol 
> 
> visit me @ [ghostcas](http://www.ghostycas.tumblr.com) on tumblr


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